This is (supposed to be) a reflective diary by a (not very) anonymous biomedical scientist who works somewhere in the south of England. One day this diary may well be submitted to the Health and Care Professions Council as evidence of ongoing continual professional development....
The
BBTS sent me an invite to
their annual conference today. I am *incredibly*
cynical about this sort of thing. Whilst in theory there are all sorts of
lectures and symposia being presented, for so many years this sort of this was
just an excuse for a big party with your old mates in works’ time and at works’
expense.
Have
things changed nowadays? I hope so, but at two hundred and fifty quid (plus accommodation costs) it’s a bit
steep. I can’ help but think that far more could be achieved by presenting all
the lectures as podcasts, and those who want a party can sort one out for
themselves.
The nice people at the BBTS emailed me
this morning.
“Accredited by the world-renowned
University of Manchester, the BBTS Specialist Certificate in Transfusion
Science Practice education course will provide you with evidence of specialist
knowledge in transfusion science required to demonstrate your specialist and
independent practice capabilities.”
This implies that it won’t actually
teach me anything, but just provide evidence of what I already know. But I
wouldn’t mind taking
the course anyway
But…
I won’t say that the cost was hidden, but
it certainly wasn’t obvious. After a few minutes I found that if I were to take
this course it would cost just nine quid short of nine hundred pounds. Back in
the day employers used to pay for this sort of thing for their staff. Today I’d
have to shell out. I suppose these people make their money because they are now
dealing predominantly with a generation which is used to paying for its
education.
I can remember when this course was
first launched. It was supposedly going to be a compulsory pre-requisite for
anyone working in a blood bank. That never happened, but it could have been a
good thing for health care at large if not for my pocket.
Am I being such a reactionary old
leftie in thinking that blood banks might be better served by making these
courses more accessible to their target audience?
